A Certain Change
by Grimmaced
Summary: What happens when things are changed. When Hiruzen decides to make Naruto his grandson in respect to Kushina's dying wish, does this set off the butterfly effect, or do things remain the same?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A Certain Change

The destruction that lay before him, all the death, the pain and emotion that the village was exuding at this very moment was oppressing. He could feel the dwindling levels of the ninja around him were using, the intense heat of the burning flames, the smoke rising from the ashen houses.

He looked to the horizon of the village, watching as the beast rampaged within his village, his home. Destroying what so many believed to be the heart of what they believed in, what so many had worked so hard to build.

One swing of its mighty tail and over a dozen ninja gone in an instant, to be remembered as heroes of this fateful day.

Before he realize, he felt the slow trail of tears running down past his cheeks. The beast released a large stream of fire into the fray of ninja, decimating most of what little ninja they had left to spare.

"Sandaime-sama!" He heard the sudden shout from one of the masked operatives he was responsible for, returning from one of his reconnaissance. "Report."

"Most of the villagers have been evacuated from the danger zone and are looking to be moved further into the village. The Chunin and Genin have been rounded up and are travelling with the villagers as reinforcements and are ready to be deployed if need be." The man with a mask resembling a bear said.

"What of Minato?" Sarutobi asked, slight desperation within his voice. "There has been no sign of Hokage-sama."

The aged man sighed and thought on the situation before making his decision. "Alright, I want both Alpha and Omega teams down there. I want Alpha as the vanguard, have Omega in support. Have them both execute procedure 'insurance', tell them to stall until Minato arrives. I want Beta teams 1-3 to fall back and have them split their work between crowd control and controlling these fires. Go." The vanishing of the ANBU happened instantly and not 30 seconds later, his ANBU teams sprang into action. But this plan was only to try and contain the situation, even if for a little bit. It would only work for a short time and hopefully in that short time Minato would return.

"Please hurry Minato.

OoO

(Running through Konoha – Minutes after arrival of Minato)

The war was won, but the battle was lost. The fires still raged around them, ANBU and Jonin alike trying to put them out. The medical teams working on healing the injured and doing body counts all around the village.

Hiruzen didn't even look around him to look around him to look upon the absolute destruction that was brought upon their village. He ran through the village moving his legs as fast as his elderly bones could carry, his operatives following their aged and weary leader to their location.

The sudden appearance of Minato and the sudden disappearance of the Kyuubi all happened so fast that he honestly couldn't think straight. For so long his fellow ninja had fought a losing battle against the Kyuubi and within seconds it was over, the deafening silence was haunting as the only noise that was heard was the crackling of fire on wood.

And now that the beast was gone, and Minato nowhere to be seen, Hiruzen had no other choice but to think the worst and assume that Minato was dead, along with the beast.

The only way for him to prove this was to see for himself.

OoO

(On the outskirts of Konoha – After searching for Minato)

Sarutobi Hiruzen watched on from his place behind the barrier that had been erected around Minato and the Kyuubi, watching as Minato drew up the seals for what Hiruzen believed, should have been him.

He screamed and yelled, bashing his fist against the barrier as the claw of the Kyuubi ripped right through both Minato and his wife, Kushina. All for the sake of protecting the barely hour old child.

It was ironic in a way… His belief of protecting the younger generation was always something he stuck by and watching those two reminded him of that belief.

It made him proud but also disappointed with himself…

OoO

(Hokage office – A day after the death of Minato & Kushina)

He watched the child within his crib, sleeping peacefully, his use to be Hokage robes now draped over his shoulder. He turned and sighed, reaching for his pipe, he hesitated for a second, a brief flash of Konoha burning. He swallowed thickly and latched onto the pipe, preparing to light the tobacco within, but was stopped by the slight cough from behind.

"It's not right to smoke in front of kids' dad, let alone a new born."

"I was planning on going outside…" Hiruzen smiled and turned to face his eldest son. A tall stubble covered man, dressed in the Konoha Jonin vest, black pants and Konoha headband worn around his forehead, his black hair flat but spiky on the tips, smirked at his father. "Takeshi, what brings you here?"

"Originally, I was supposed to come and get you, the council is ready to decide on the current situation with the big seat and little Naruto here." Takeshi said, looking into the crib and staring down at the small sleeping face. "Ah, shall we be on our way then?" Hiruzen asked walking toward the door. "Wouldn't want to keep them waiting, their running out of time as it is." Takeshi chuckled following behind his father out the door and began a leisurely walk beside the man who he had, for a part of his life, admired greatly. He watched as the man lit the tobacco within his pipe, clouds of smoke forming every time he exhaled.

Considering what was happening, Takeshi assumed it would be fine to smoke himself and pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his back pocket. Their walk, an everlasting silence as they both respectively smoked, the silence was broken however as Hiruzen spoke.

"Takeshi…" He started. "What… do you think should happen to Naruto?" He finished, looking toward his son as they neared the council room. "I'm… Not sure, adoption maybe?" Takeshi answered stopping and turning to his father as they reached the room.

The third Hokage hm'ed in response, turning to his son and thanking him before opening the door into the room, where he closed it behind him. Leaving Takeshi standing there, thinking as to what his father thanked him for.

OoO

(Atop the Hokage tower – Two days after council meeting)

Hiruzen stood atop the podium, garbed in his Hokage robes, looking down on the people of Konoha, hand behind his back. As he looked down, he saw his youngest son, Asuma amongst the crowd, with his team mates readying for the speech he was to give. The boy looked so much like his elder brother at that age, even if he did deny it. Spiky black hair, subtle growth of a beard…

"Good afternoon denizens of Konohagakure, I, Hiruzen Sarutobi came before you all to speak in light of recent events." The talking of the crowd began to quiet down as Hiruzen began talking of what happened not three nights before. "As you all know already Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki are no longer with us, and so many others have left us as well. We hope to commemorate their memories with honour and love." Many in the crowd bowed their heads in respect for the deceased. "Although, as grim as these events maybe, there has been some light through the darkness, as I have been re-elected to be your Hokage." Clapping and some cheers were heard from the crowd as the re-election of their previous Hokage was a much more positive result from this situation. Hiruzen raised his hand in a silent order for quiet, then speaking once more. "I would also like to present the hero of Konohagakure, my grandson…"

"Naruto Uzumaki Sarutobi!"

OoO

(Hokage office – A few hours after the speech)

"And just who will be the boys care-taker Hiruzen!" An elderly man bandages wrapped around the left side of his face, yelled. "This is not what the council agreed upon!"

"I know what the council 'suggested' Danzo, this was my decision. As for the caretaker of the child, my son has and his wife has volunteered."

"Your son!" Danzo yelled in disbelief. "Your son can barely take care of himself!"

"The decision has been made Danzo-"

"No! This decision will backfire, and the lives of everyone in Konoha will be at risk. Your boy is as incompetent as a fucking tree stump-"

"Danzo you'd do well to remember your place!" Hiruzen reprimanded, staring down the scowling Danzo. "My decision is final. The boy will be known as Sarutobi."

"And what of the children of the families that were wiped out during the attack? What will you do with them; surely this sudden adoption will not just result in a breeze passing by, just another happening. No this will only cause more frustration that the village does not need!"

The Hokage sat himself back down and breathed in large quantities of air, relaxing his body. "It seems to me that most of those children that were left orphaned by this event seem to have gone missing. You wouldn't have anything to do with that Danzo."

The bandaged man sat there seething before he stood and left the room.

OoO

(Hokage office – A day after the speech)

Takeshi, Rekka… Are you sure you wish to adopt Naruto? I can arrange for one of our other members to raise him."

"Dad, weren't we the ones to offer to adopt him? Of course we want to raise him. Besides, I don't think our other members would appreciate it much of we shoved a child their way…" Takeshi said, the bearded man looked over to his wife and the child she held in her arms, the child that she was only introduced to a day ago, the child that she was going to become a parent for. His new son.

"I know I wouldn't want that." A voice intruded into the conversation.

"Asuma… How you been? You know, with everything?" Takeshi wondered turning around to face the teenaged boy leaning against the frame of the door. "Eh, I'm okay… Losing mum isn't as bad as what other people go through, but it's no less painful. I miss her… So, this is my new nephew huh?" Asuma said walking over Rekka to look down at the small sleeping face. "Yeah, that's your nephew…" Hiruzen smiled watching the interactions between his family wishing the scene could last forever. He knew then that Naruto was in caring hands.

* * *

END. Yes, I finally released my own story after like, 2 years of just reading just to up my writing game, and hopefully it payed off?

I actually posted before but I deleted it because I didn't know what I was doing and it didn't end up as I had planned, so I reposted. Anyway, I'll try to update the next chapter in a week or 2 because I've got exams coming up, and some assignments that they decided to throw at me. So hopefully I'll be able to keep up the content through to next week and so on. Hope you enjoyed.

Gimmaced – Signing out.


	2. Chapter 2

Soz, super late update… 34 days to be precise. I didn't mean to take that long really! I only meant to take like one week, but school fucked me. So whatever, hope this makes up for it lmao.

I maybe super late but I'm also supa-fly.

* * *

Chapter 2

(Four years later – Hokage tower)

"Jii-chan!"

Hiruzen stopped the conversation he was having with one of his council members to turn around and watch a small mop of blonde hair run through the corridor. The Hokage bent at the knee and opened his arms wide for the child to come barrelling into his midriff. Hiruzen laughed lightly, wrapping his arms around the child. "Naruto my boy," pulling out of the hug Hiruzen held Naruto at arm's length. "Where's your brother's?"

The small boy looked up to the elderly man and smiled, happiness exuding off his small form, "Konohamaru is with Asuma-Niisan, waiting for you," the small boy replied, stepping away from the Hokage's hold on his shoulders Naruto finished. "Asuma-Niisan said it was important."

"Important huh? Go and tell Asuma I'll be there soon ok?" Hiruzen said, smiling down at the young boy. "Alright Jii-chan!" Naruto said before turning around and running off in the direction he had come from, Hiruzen stood from his kneeling position and turned around to his council member, continuing on with his conversation.

OoO

(Some time later – Outside the Hokage office)

"No."

"Why're you so stubborn. I just need your consent!"

"I will not allow my son to be connected to such activities."

Naruto sat outside listening in on the argument that was occurring between his uncle and grandfather. He wasn't old enough to understand what was being argued over, he was only four, and his birthday was just last month. He was meant to start his ninja training next year, which was only months away, but his dad had already started him on training, little exercises here and there, but he was supposed to start his 'real training' next year in the academy.

His father had tried to start him early on, teaching him the basics of what goes into chakra and the end result of using it was, at first he had tried to teach him the written part, but that never caught on as Naruto was a hands on type of learner and as such, his father stepped it up, teaching him how to mould and control chakra, but even that failed as his father has said his reserves were too 'large' for him to control at this stage. Ever since then, Naruto and his father trained in only conditioning his body, the training was never too strenuous as he had an extremely high amount of energy and we was usually only left winded.

Ever since his mother had died, his father had never really acted the same. Last year he had lost his mother after Konohamaru was brought into the world and at the start of the new year his father had started trying to train him, trying to make him stronger and he felt obliged to follow what his father said during training and not just because he was his father. The death of his mother had triggered something in him, he didn't know what, but he knew it was powerful, and in turn, he felt the need to get stronger.

He heard the soft cry from beside him, turning his head to face the noise and saw his little brother asleep in his cot, eyebrows scrunched up as if he was forcing himself to sleep. At that moment Naruto remembered a very interesting memory of his father and grandfather and the strange things they had said at the time, the most memorable thing that was said though was 'protect those close to you' the reason it was strange was they had made him swear it as if it was an oath to never be broken and he had promised, gave his word that he would protect Konohamaru, Asuma, his grandfather, his father and the village as a whole.

And he never went back on his word.

The door to the Hokage office swung open and a scowl ridden Asuma exited the office storming toward Konohamaru, picking him and his cot up and began walking in a huff. "Come on Naruto lets go, we're going to get something to eat!"

OoO

(The next day, late at night – Training ground 7)

"Anything?"

"No, Hokage-sama. Asuma displaced his scent, threw my hounds of his trail. I'm sorry."

The Hokage thrummed his throat in thought before speaking. "No, I'm sorry; it was a wasted effort…"

"The entire operation wasn't all for nothing though Hokage-sama as we do have his planned destination, based on the way he was moving. On your word, we can track him down." The shadow spoke, showing no sign of movement as these operatives we're trained to do. Hiruzen narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke in a low tone of voice. "Where…"

"Toward the capitol."

The elder man sighed, having expected this to be the outcome; he turned to face the shadow within the shadow and smirked slightly. "You can come out now… Kakashi." The shadow walked out into the moonlight and removed his mask. His care free expression was contrasted by his strikingly spiky hair. "You can call the rest of your team back in. Tell them they can have the rest of this week off. Same goes for you Kakashi, you should socialise with your old classmates more." The Hokage said, smiling.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Kakashi spoke before disappearing in a blur, leaving Hiruzen to himself, to think of the change of event that had happened, but at the forefront of his mind, Hiruzen could only think of how he was going to break the news to Naruto.

OoO

(One year later – Ninja academy)

"So, Naruto, you ready for this?"

"I think so…"

"You'll do just fine, I promise." Takeshi assured his adoptive son, standing from his crouched position he spun Naruto around to have a look around at all the parents and children getting ready for the entrance ceremony. His searching eyes stopped their wondering as they spotted a rather spiky head of black hair. Pulling away from his father Naruto ran across small field to go meet the other child, who happened to be resting against a tree. "Oi! Shika!" The half-asleep child was suddenly shaken awake by a shill and loud voice.

"Oh… Naruto, what do you want?" The boy said, disgruntled by his awakening. "I was almost asleep…"

"Oh come on don't be like that Shika," Naruto said, sitting down next to his friend. "Where's everyone?"

"Chouji is with his dad." The boy said turning his body away from the blonde boy.

"And…?" Naruto asked, poking Shikamaru in the side. "And what?" The blonde sighed, "Everyone else!"

"Sakura is with her parents and Ino is Kami knows where, probably with Sakura… You figure it out." The boy said yawning. "Man, how could you sleep on a day like this? We're basically becoming Ninja! I can barely contain myself!" The blonde said, standing to his feet, punching and kicking the air.

"We're not Ninja for a while; all this is just work that I could use doing something productive." The spiky haired boy said, changing his position to a sitting one. "Like what?"

"Sleeping…"

OoO

(Some time later – Inside the academy)

"Today, you take on the challenge of becoming Ninja… Some of you may fail, few of you will succeed. But I can see that the will of fire that will light the future burns bright within you… All of you. Good luck." The third Hokage spoke before exiting the room and throwing one last glance around the room that was packed with students.

"Was that your grandfather?" The voice of another student spoke in a whisper into Naruto's ear.

"Yeah, why?" The blonde boy answered. "Damn, that must be so cool, to see the Hokage every day."

"I guess." Naruto answered, unsure as to what was cool about seeing the old man work behind a desk all day, but if it made him more popular than whatever, seeing the old man was the highlight if his days.

"Alright, listen up kids, when you hear your name, I want you to stand from your seats and stay standing until I say." A tall man with black hair said, lifting up a clip board to his face, reading off the names listed. Naruto tuned out the list of names the man began calling out and began to look around the room till he caught the eyes of his father who was staring right at him, eyebrows lifted. Naruto looked to the ground where he started to fiddle with his fingers for the next 20 minutes, before finally, "Sarutobi Naruto!" Jumping from his seat, Naruto yelled, "here!"

"Alright, would all of you please follow Iruka-sensei here to your class rooms and you guys can get acquainted" As Naruto made his way to the brown haired teacher, he noticed the other people also making their way over to the smiling teacher.

"Shika, Ino, Chouji, Sakura?" Naruto questioned, looking to the group before looking at the other students as well. "Sasuke, Kiba, Shino & Hinata as well…"

"Seems we're all in the same class huh…" Shikamaru stated, "And looks like we have some new friends as well."

"Oh I can see this will be a great time…" Naruto spoke with layers of sarcasm coating his words, looking toward the smiling Uchiha, "I'm stuck with this duckbutt…"

OoO

(One year later – Atop the Hokage Monument)

Naruto stared at the large stone, eyes wandering the list of names engraved onto it. Looking around, Naruto only saw close friends of his father and some other royal, stuck up clan heads looking toward the grave stone as if they had better things to do whilst his grandfather and some family members stood beside him. In his short year at the academy Naruto learnt that these things happened frequently and on a day-to-day basis, but rarely do people ever get a funeral to grieve the dead, his mother didn't get one, but for some reason… His father did.

It might have been for his bravery before his death or because he was a significant face among the people or it could have been that it was because he was the damn Hokage's son. But it didn't make a difference to Naruto because his father was still dead.

The man that had tried so hard to take care of him, to raise him and Konohamaru. The man that had defended and protected him at every turn, the person Naruto himself was trying to mould himself to be like, his aspiration and inspiration… Was dead.

The whole day he was holding himself back, trying to keep up a strong façade in front of Konohamaru and his grandfather. Two days ago when he had heard the news, he made a promise to himself that he would not cry, under no circumstances would he cry. But it seemed he would not be able to keep that promise.

He felt a hand being placed on his shoulder and he looked to see his grandfather looking down at him, smiling before Naruto grabbed onto his pant-leg and began to cry.

OoO

(Two years later – In the yard of the academy)

"Why is it that I always get paired up with you?"

"What's wrong with me?"

"You're _you_. That's what's wrong."

"I don't follow…"

"Forget it… Can you just, ya' know, get up a fight me?"

"I don't see the point."

"Oh for the love of…"

"I'm calling the fight if you don't stand up Shikamaru."

"Goo-"

"If you don't get up Shika I'm telling your mum!" Ino yelled from the small gathering of children.

That was a rather convincing point; he'd rather take a punch to the face than take a verbal beating from his mother any day. Slowly standing from his position on the ground, Shikamaru looked toward a scowling Naruto before performing a 'come hither' and saw his scowl turn into a grin. "Can you hurry up and start the match?"

Iruka sighed before nonchalantly swiping his hand through the air and speaking, "Hajime…"

Neither boy moved a muscle, Naruto's grin slowly fading into a frown, "I'm not fighting unless he fights…"

"Just punch him!" A voice yelled from the small gathering of his class surrounding the both of them. "I can't! He won't mov-"his sentence being cut off as he felt a poke in his side.

"I win…" Shikamaru said, walking back into the small crowd of children.

"What…" Naruto spoke, dumbfounded.

"Shikamaru is the winner; Kiba and Sasuke please come forward…"

"Oh that's so much bull!" Naruto yelled, storming off to the side following Shikamaru.

"That wasn't nice Shika…" Choji said, as both Naruto and Shikamaru arrived next to the chubby boy. "Who said it had to be nice?"

"I would have kicked your ass and you know it Shika!"

"Is that why you lost?" Shikamaru remarked, a small grin playing at the corners of his mouth, very rarely did he get to one up Naruto and he was going to take whatever he could. Shikamaru: 1 Naruto: 0

"I'm hungry; you guys want to get something to eat?" Choji said looking between Shikamaru and Naruto. Both grinning and brooding respectively.

"Yeah whatever, as long as pineapple head is the one paying…"Naruto: 1 Shikamaru: 1

OoO

(A few hours later – Hokage office)

"His grades and attentiveness is beginning to decline Hokage-sama… I'm afraid if he keeps to the way he's going, he will be in danger of not passing through the academy…"

"I'm aware…"

Iruka narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, lifting his head toward his heralded leader; he spoke again, "Something has to change! That boy… He's got something special… And I don't mean the Kyuubi; I mean something, genuinely unique." The Hokage stood from his chair, turning to face the large windows that allowed viewing of the village. "I'm also aware of that… And I do agree, something must change, but it all comes down to him, and his own desire to improve. I can't force this on the boy. He needs to learn to let go."

"Let go… of what?" Iruka asked, confused as to what the Hokage meant, unsure if it was another strange insinuation telling him to leave it alone, or if it was honestly something Naruto needed to learn…

"The past… The boy may appear to be happy, but it goes much deeper than that…"

"Is this about Asuma-san leaving? Is that what's the problem here? If so then-"

"It's about much more than that… There are something's that you are unaware about Iruka, Things about this family of ours." And Iruka knew he wasn't going to learn what those things were. Sighing he stood from the small chair, and bowed his head low. "Thank you for your time, Hokage-sama." He spoke, turning to walk toward the door. "Iruka."

The teacher stopped, hand on the handle of the door. "Do not worry for Naruto."

"It's the only thing I can do for him."

OoO

(Two years later – The gates of Konoha)

The place had changed drastically, at least it had to him… and he never felt happier to be home. Six years of travelling and promiscuity can have that effect on you… He was so unsure about himself at the moment, not sure where he was supposed to go… He didn't feel like he belonged here.

He could go and surprise his nephew's or see his father. He didn't really want to confront his family after being away for six-and-a-half years, he knows of the happenings that had come to pass in the village thanks to his father, who, still unknown to him, knew exactly where he had gone after their falling out. He knows of his brothers passing as well as the struggles his nephew was going through… And the recent mass murder of the Uchiha.

He passed the two shinobi standing guard along the sides of the gate, nodding to them as he passed, giving the two a once-over, he noticed the mint condition of the flak jacket they wore, and could only assume that was the new customary Chunin look. They seemed to have no idea who he was, but noticed the sash tied around his waist and seemed to recognise him as a guardian who had nearly all passage to any part of the Land of fire, Konoha included.

Stopping at the entry of the village, he could feel he was already being watched… Did he really look that unfamiliar that even the ANBU didn't know it was him? Well, six years was quite a lengthy amount of time, and just about anyone could have been promoted to the rank, so it was safe to assume that they were new. Taking his first steps in six years back into his home, and instantly, there was a mask blankly staring at him.

This person was scarily-familiar to him, the lazy posture, the hand resting on his side, and the hair all seemed eerily familiar to him…

The masked man waved his hand through the air, the chakra that he had sensed before was disappearing and reappearing a distance away. "Asuma Sarutobi." That voice! He knew this man, the name was right there in front of him, he just couldn't place it. "If you would follow me, your presence has been requested."

"Well, the old man's senses are still sharp as always huh? Let's go." It seems any surprise visits were off the table then. Following the ANBU in front of him, speeding up his walk Asuma caught up with masked man. "Hey, I just want to know… Do I know you?"

"Please do not speak." The masked man spoke in finality.

"Well, could you tell me where we're going? I may have been gone for a long time but this isn't the way to the old man's office." Asuma questioned with a raised eyebrow, he waited for an answer only to have silence as his reply. He was talking to himself it seemed, why were ANBU so up-tight? "Anti-social bores, the lot of them!"

OoO

(A few minutes later – Hokage Residence)

"Oh fuck…" Asuma spoke, staring up at the large building unsure as to how he should feel…

He was going to see his old man after six years, of course he was nervous. But there was no two ways around it, him being in the village meant that he would have to see the man before too late, and it seemed he would see him sooner than he liked.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the ANBU that he was stuck with for last half-hour walk past him and toward the steps, "Follow."

"Yeah, on second thought, I don't think I'm ready for this just yet… Sorry." Turning to walk the other way, Asuma was spooked by the emotionless mask that was less than an inch away from his face, "Up the steps." Turning back around, Asuma walked toward the steps without so much of a protest as those masks we're just plain freaky and he wasn't willing to fight a mask. "Yeah, yeah… So pushy."

Reaching the door, he turned toward the ANBU noticing he was going to speak again, "Let me guess, 'open the door'" going for the handle, Asuma was surprised that the door was already open, on the other side another ANBU. "Great, more friends…"

Entering the great building, the darkness that had enveloped the room was suddenly flushed out by the light and was filled with people that Asuma_Actually _recognised. "Kurenai, Guy… What are you guys doing here?"

"We're here to see you! Asuma-san, it's good to have you back!" Guy spoke loudly, smiling. Hearing the door close behind him, "Yeah, same here."

"Kakashi! I knew I recognised you, when the hell did you become ANBU?"

"Little over thirteen years ago."

Asuma stared blankly at the spiky haired man, "No seriously…"

"I'm not lying." The masked man seemed to smile with his eye; somehow it seemed amusing to Kakashi that Asuma didn't believe him. Who would believe that someone entered the ANBU at the young age of thirteen? Obviously not Asuma.

"Whatever, so where's the old man?"

"I'm here, and I'll have you that I'm not that old." The aged man spoke from another part of the residence, walking down a flight of stairs. "You can't justify that with the speed that you're walking down those stairs…"

"I'm tired…"

"Heh, you, uh look good?" Asuma spoke awkwardly to the man he had been dreading to meet over the small amount of time he had been back in Konoha. "So do you… Now I will see you in my office within the next hour, catch up with your friends, and then come see me. I need to ask something of you."

"Sure…"

OoO

(An hour later – Hokage office)

"Dad?"

"Enter."

Pushing the door open, Asuma looked around warily, "You didn't do much to the place since I left…" Taking a seat in the spare chair in the room, he looked to his father to see a face set in stone. His father wasn't messing about right now and having dealt with this type of behaviour when he was younger, instantly turned serious himself.

"I haven't called you here to talk formalities Asuma. Yes it is a pleasure to have you returned but there is something more pressing that I must ask of you. It has to do with Naruto…" The aged but powerful leader spoke, reaching down into one of the drawers, "Naruto… Why, what's happened to him?"

Placing a folder on to the table, Hiruzen spun it and pushed it toward Asuma. "I want you to read this." Asuma's eyes narrowed slightly, opening the folder to the first page he began to read the contents, "What is this?"

"Those are Naruto's statistics from five years ago to now." The Hokage said, hands coming to lock in front of him, "There just getting worse and worse…"

"Iruka pointed this out to me, and it's not getting any better… Here, these are his most recent stats." Hiruzen placed the single sheet of paper on the table for Asuma to see, "His physical attributes are higher than any I've ever seen before, but the rest is just terrible… He won't make it through the program like this…" He said placing the sheet back on the table, unsure as to why this concerned him, but still feared for his nephew's progression through the academy. "I know that…"

"Then why haven't you done anything?" Asuma questioned, a little harsher than he would have liked, although his tone of voice was instantly forgotten as his father chuckled, "That's where you're supposed to come in… You'll be training Naruto for the next year and a half, right up till he graduates."

"You want _me_ to train Naruto? I've been gone for six years and you want me to train him. I haven't even seen him yet."

"Well you get to see him sooner than you would have liked then. Good, treat it as your punishment for disobeying me."

OoO

(A few hours later – outside the academy)

"Hey, Naruto want to come over to my house?" Shikamaru said jogging up to the blonde. "Choji's coming."

"I don't know, last time I went your mum lectured me as to why _you're _lazy…" The boy replied scratching the top of his head, "And your dad said I was too loud? What's with that?"

"Yeah, I remember that… But don't worry my dad's out on a mission."

"Uh, maybe, if I come, I come I guess…"

The lazy boy placed his hands behind his head, narrowing his eyes slightly, "Alright sure, but uh… Who's that with your brother?"

"What, where?" The blonde said looking around to all the families walking around with their children till he spotted his little brother next to a man that looked familiar to him. "I don't know who that is… I'll see you later Shika." Naruto said, walking toward the familiar person.

Asuma looked at the boy walking toward him with widened eyes, he had grown so much in six years, it was expected obviously but it was still a so shocking to see the change from a little innocent boy that he was, into a boy that was soon to enter his teenage years. The look on Naruto's face was one of confusion, what he was confused about Asuma didn't know. "Hey kid…"

Naruto stared at Asuma with his eyebrows raised in question, "Who are you?" Blinking, Asuma was shocked to hear that his own nephew, his _family_ didn't recognise him… "Why're you with my brother?"

Asuma attempted to speak but was stopped by the small voice of Konohamaru "Nii-san its Asuma-nii. He's back!" The eyes of Naruto widened, looking up to the older man, his eyes began to water as he held his arms out for what seemed like a hug. Smiling at this show of affection from Naruto, Asuma leant down to pull the boy into a hug but was stopped as he began coughing and hacking, grabbing onto his throat he looked to Naruto with wide eyes. The boy's fist was closed, his body shaking. "Why're you here?"

Rubbing his throat, Asuma gulped. "For you."

"Fuck off."

OoO

(A few minutes later – Hokage office)

Looking between the two, the Hokage could safely say that Naruto was _a lot _quicker than Asuma, judging by the dirt and sweat covering Asuma and the cleanliness that was Naruto. "So…" The Hokage started.

"Good to see you two have finally reunited, but that's not what we're here for now is it?" The elder man said, trying to force the smile off of his face. "What's this about me training with this guy Jii-chan! I now it's a lie, you know I don't need training." Naruto said arms crossed.

"Unfortunately Naruto, you do, you've been failing your classes Naruto. Come graduation you will fail

… Luckily Asuma is here to make sure that doesn't happen."

"This is a load of bull 'ttebayo!"

"Anything you'd like to say Asuma?" Hiruzen asked his son, who had his head down, looking toward the floor. "Nothing? Alright, I guess that's it. Naruto, I want you to go home and rest. Your training starts tomorrow." Naruto stood before exiting the room quickly. "He hates me, dad…"

"He doesn't hate you…" Hiruzen said standing from his seat behind the large desk, walking around to place a hand onto Asuma's shoulder. "He's just angry… Give him time."

OoO

(Three weeks later – Sarutobi compound, Indoor training room)

"You just need to concentrate…"

"I am concentrating…"

"Can you feel it?"

"Kind of…"

"Explain it to me."

"It's like a never ending rainfall…" Naruto said, legs crossed, eyebrows knitted together and a small trail of sweat down the side of his face, "It feels like I'm on fire, but I'm not being burnt…"

"Stay with that feeling Naruto, hold it for as long as you can…" Asuma spoke in the same position as Naruto, watching him. 'Come on Naruto…'

"Shit!" Having a lapse in concentration, Naruto yelled, "I couldn't hold it… This is the fifth time we've tried this and I'm not getting any better!" He said, standing before walking over to the large punching bag and kicking it. "You can't keep training on your fighting Naruto; you have chakra for a reason…"

"Watch me," he said, punching the bag as hard as he could. "What happens when you come up against one of your friends, Shikamaru or Ino?"

"I'll stomp a mudhole into Shika," proceeding to kick and punch the hanging bag. "And I don't hit girls…"

"You won't be stomping anybody if he can catch you with that shadow technique of his first. Look Naruto, you have chakra and a lot of it, trust me, you'll want to learn to control it with the Jutsu I want to teach you." The bearded ninja said, "I know it's hard but that's what being a ninja means."

"Yeah, and you're supposed to know everything huh…" Naruto said quietly to himself. "Did you say something Naruto?"

"No… How 'bout we just stop there…" Naruto said walking toward the sliding door to exit the training room, leaving the room to Asuma, smacking his lips is thought.

"That kid is annoying…"

* * *

Man, this was a bitch to write, only cause of the time restrictions I had before I actually could finish it. I actually cut it short sooner than I wanted, and a lot of parts I wanted to expand on more, but adding anymore just seemed wrong and if you couldn't already tell, I am rushing it a bit with the time skips. I'm trying to keep in relevant events in here… please. ("Trying" I'm just lazy)

Oh man seriously, listening to the Naruto openings, endings, themes whatever, it just gets you writing; well it does for me. No Boy No Cry just hypes me up man, oh, the memories…

Well, whatever, have a good read.

Grimmaced – Signing out.


	3. Chapter 3

Ayyy, I don't own Naruto.

Totes updated quicker because I had no school, but I do start soon, so it'll be a bit longer before the next update so don't expect anything too soon.

Anyway this is the chapter, have an enjoying read.

* * *

Chapter Three

(Six Months later – Sarutobi compound, outdoor training ground)

"Yes Naruto! Keep that up." Asuma cheered Naruto on, "Just a little bit longer and you'll have beaten your last time." Naruto seethed, teeth clenched, sweat trailing and a small vein appearing on the side of his neck. "Almost… And, time!" Asuma said cheerfully, smiling down at the exhausted boy, "Almost a minute Naruto, a good solid forty seconds, ten seconds longer than last time. You're improving."

Giving a shaky thumbs up, the boy stayed laying on the floor catching his breath, he didn't think balancing a damn leaf would be so hard, and forty seconds didn't sound long, but it did to him. This was the most strenuous thing he'd ever done, and he was apparently still over one hour before he reached Asuma's level of control, one hour! He can't even stay in one place for an hour, let alone sit for an hour…

"Alright, we'll rest for a bit." Helping the boy up to his feet, Asuma walked over the steps that lead into the compound, sitting on the second step. Naruto followed his lead and sat on the first step, grabbing one of the spare bottles of water that Asuma had brung with him, Naruto began to chug down the water with haste, "hold on don't do… that, I tried." Asuma said, chuckling at the face that Naruto was pulling. "Oh god… It felt so good then it felt so bad…" Naruto said, arms wrapping around his midsection. "That's what happens when you drink too much too fast." Smacking the blonde in the back, "I guess you're ready to go then!"

"Go where?" The blonde questioned, dreading he actually meant more training. "To get something to eat, I'm hungry and I'm sure you are too. Come on, my treat." Asuma said, walking up the steps. Naruto stayed seated on the steps, spacing out before hearing the words 'my treat'. Looking behind him, Asuma was no longer there, already walking out the front door. "Oi wait up!"

OoO

(A few minutes later – Ichiraku's)

You'd think, after eating ramen for the umpteenth time that Asuma would be used to Naruto's eating habits by now, but it was so _inhuman_ the way he could almost breathe in his food without so much as a break in between his swallows, and the amount of large bowls he could get through before Asuma even had a chance to _taste_ his own food was just as inhuman if not worse than that… It was just insane. The boy was boring a hole into his wallet, finishing up his third and going onto his fourth, it was like his stomach was an empty pit of darkness, just sucking up whatever came its way attempting to fill the void. Asuma wasn't even concerned with his own food anymore, just watching the spectacle that was Naruto attempting to bankrupt him.

"You seriously need to slow down Naruto, I'm not a medic but that can't be good for you at all…" Asuma said, watching Naruto consume the soup that was left in the bowl, wiping his face with his sleeve, "Yeah, yeah one more… I still haven't had the Miso yet." Seriously, another bowl of ramen? Asuma just wanted to cry as he knew this was going to cost quite a fair bit, and on food no less. Although that would be considered a good investment by some people, people like Naruto; it wasn't a good investment to him… A good investment to him would be another packet of cigarettes that he had run out on… "Hey, what are we going to train next?" Naruto said to the spaced out Asuma, "wha- oh, I'm not too sure… You've improved so much I'm not entirely sure what I should train you next… What do you think?" Adjusting the goggles resting over his forehead, Naruto gave a big smile in return of the compliments, "I think you should teach me that Jutsu you promised me! Even Iruka-sensei said I've gotten so much better!"

"You still remember that? Damn… I'm still not completely sure on that one just yet bud, it's a big technique and you don't even need chakra control to use it, I just wanted to save it for last," Asuma said, scratching the back of his head, "so, what's this about Iruka saying you we're getting better?" Asuma knew Naruto was easily distracted so asking simple questions like this would be more than enough to distract him away from the previous question. "Oh yeah, Iruka-sensei said that I was better than I was before, but can't tell my rank in the class till we have our Ninjutsu exam next week."

"Well, looks like we got to step up your training if you want to be better than that other kid, Sasuke was it? I've been hearing he's like a genius."Asuma chuckled at the face Naruto pulled at the mention of Sasuke. Asuma knew Naruto didn't like the kid, for whatever reason he didn't know, nor did he really care, a childhood rivalry will be good for Naruto. "Sasuke isn't a genius; I'd kick that guy's ass!"

Smiling at his Nephew's enthusiasm "I'm going to tell you something my friend used to tell me when we used to compare ourselves to the 'genius' of our classes, he said 'Some people may be born geniuses and may excel at everything they do, but through training and the will to push on only then will you surpass those geniuses and become a genius of hard work'" Asuma said, puffing his chest out in a proud manner, "what the hell does that even mean…" Sighing, Asuma smiled, lowering his posture on the stool to Naruto's height, "It means that if you keep training to be better, you'll eventually surpass this Sasuke kid."

"Oh… But I'm already better than Sasuke so it doesn't matter."

"Yes I'm sure you are, now come on. Got stuff to do." Asuma said, placing the money needed to pay for the food onto the counter. Waving to the old man who collected the money, they left the little restaurant.

"Are we going back to training?"

"Nah let's just take the rest of this day off huh?"

Naruto looked to Asuma as if he had lost his mind. He never just let Naruto off training for the day, mind you, he wasn't complaining in any sense, it was just strange. "Uh… Sure, I'll see you at home then?"

"Oh no, we're not done for the day, we're just not training." Asuma said, placing his hands into his pockets. "Then, what are we doing?" Naruto questioned, they already ate and apparently finished their training so what else was there to do?

"We're going to go get you a new look."

"What do you mean?"

OoO

(A few minutes later – Inside a clothing store)

"This isn't what I thought you meant…"

"What do you mean, that looks great!" Asuma exclaimed, biting his lip to stop his laughter, "It does not! I look like an Akimichi." Naruto complained, grabbing at the loose fitting pants that went past his heels and the long shirt that reached his knees. "I'm going back to my tracksuit." Naruto said flinging the large shirt to the side only to witness the burning of said tracksuit, "No!"

"What have you done!?" Naruto exclaimed, picking up the ashes of his tracksuit. "_I've_ done you a favour, that thing looked like it belonged in the trash, I've probably did the trashcan a favour more than I have you."

"What the hell am I gonna wear tomorrow? All my other clothes haven't been washed!"

"Well, that's why we're here, to buy you new clothes. You can keep those pants though," Sighing in slight relief that he could keep his orange pants, Naruto was still in shock over the burning of his favoured go to choice of top. "So what the hell are we going to get then, I didn't see anything."

"That's 'cause you didn't look, stay there I'll find something." Asuma said, leaving Naruto shirtless in the dressing stall, unsure what to do with himself, he sat in a chair in the corner of the stall.

"Dumbass Asuma…" Over the next couple of minutes Naruto sat there pondering on things he'd do the next day and as to what was taking Asuma so damn long to find a decent shirt.

Even though he hated to admit it, he and Asuma had gotten a lot closer the past few months, obviously Asuma had put in an extra effort to establish a friendship between the two, but that's how it stayed, a friendship. Whether or not Naruto would ever consider the bearded shinobi family again remains to be seen, but as far as Naruto could tell, he was on the right track. Konohamaru had already accepted Asuma within days, more than likely because of the fact that he was a basically a toddler at the time when Asuma left, so he didn't really understand, but neither did he to be fair, Naruto was four at the time. But that didn't take away the fact Naruto was still able to_ comprehend_ things. If it wasn't for his grandfather, Naruto wouldn't have even associated with Asuma. Naruto has never _hated_ Asuma, just hated the fact that he wasn't there for most of the important things that's happened.

"Oi." Snapping out of his own little world, Naruto looked to Asuma holding a long sleeved shirt in his hands. "Try this on."

"It took you this long to find a damn shirt," Naruto said grabbing the shirt from Asuma's hands before noticing a small pile of other clothes and equipment next to Asuma, "what's that'?"

"These are other things you're going to need later on, trust me. Now hurry up put the shirt on." Naruto cocked an eyebrow at his dismissal of the small pile, dismissing it himself, he wasn't going to argue with a full-fledged ninja as to what he needed and what he didn't need. Pulling the shirt on over his head, he looked down to check the shirt, and was surprised to notice the orange cuffs around his wrist and an orange collar; he also noticed that the shirt fit him almost perfectly. "I… I like this."

"I knew you would. Now then, this is also part of the outfit," Asuma said picking up part of the small pile and handing Naruto a ball of bandages, "that's for your hands," then handing him a pair of black ninja sandals, "you know what that's for," finally, Asuma handed him a mesh undershirt, "You wear that underneath the shirt, it'll save your life believe me." Naruto stared at the pile of ninja apparel that Asuma was willing to buy him and was shocked as no one had done this for him, kids in the Sarutobi clan we're never babied so they we're usually given the money and told to buy their 'preferred' choice of clothing rather than having their parents or relatives buy it, "I also bought you extra pants cause it looks like you needed new ones… So whatever hurry up and put the clothes on, I already paid for it."

Naruto smiled before commenting, "Yeah, well this is what you owe me anyway."

"For what?"

"Being the greatest student you'll ever teach."

OoO

(Three Months later – Outdoor training ground)

"Your accuracy is getting better." Asuma said watching Naruto throw a kunai from a distance, "you can almost hit the target more than ten times, although your aim would be a lot better with less power in the throw…"

"I'm trying to keep it as level as I can, it just won't stay down," Naruto said, throwing another kunai only to have it go flying high, and hitting the top of the marker, "It's so damn hard!"

"Don't worry too much, unless you train everyday of your life, there's no way you can be perfect at throwing kunai." Asuma said, demonstrating by throwing a kunai himself, watching as it hit just below the mark. "But you do get better at it as you go along," as he said this, he threw another kunai, hitting the mark perfectly.

"Usually it's more instinct than it is skill, so relax, you'll get it. Besides we're done with training today, I wanted to get into that technique I promised you a while back." Asuma said, chuckling as Naruto's face went from being disgruntled to being excited in what seemed like less than a second.

"Hell yeah! Let's go, I'm so ready for this."

"Now hold on, I need to test a theory first…"

"Well what the hell it this 'theory?'"

"I need you to force as much of your chakra out as you can, give me a good idea whether or not I should _actually_ teach you this…"

"Alright, whatever let's go…" Naruto positioned himself onto the floor into a meditative position, legs crossed, just as Asuma had taught him. Holding a ram seal in front of his body, he concentrated on his chakra flow, he breathed in deeply before forcing his chakra outwards in large bursts, Asuma took a step back as well as covered his eyes from the debris that was flying in his direction.

A bright blue-white light began to encompass Naruto's form, "Naruto!" Asuma yelled, a small wind picking up around the boy, making Asuma take another step back, applying chakra to the soles of his feet, he walked toward the boy, "Naruto stop!" he tried again and failed. There was no way for him to reach the boy using communication; he was going to have to stop him manually. Making his way toward the chakra, he watched as it changed in colour to an orange-red and knew then he needed to hurry.

Walking through the chakra that seemed reminiscent of licking flames, seeing the boy sitting on the floor he walked over to him, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder he was instantly cut across his palm, unsure as to what was happening, Asuma opted to take a safer and quicker route and slapped the boy on the cheek. Feeling the chakra around him begin to calm, Asuma removed his hand from the boy's face, seeing the Naruto's eyes open, he sighed if relief.

Smiling widely, Naruto lifted himself from the ground, "so am I learning it or what?"

Asuma pinched the bridge of his nose, before replying, "Yeah…"

"Well let's get going 'ttebayo!"

"Right… Let's stay out here for this though… Inside is too small." Asuma said, trying to sound calm and play off the event that had just transpired.

"Oooh, so it's big, even better." Naruto said excited as it was something that didn't have to do with clones and anything of the like.

"Alright so firstly, it's called the Shadow clone jutsu."

…

Damn... Honestly Naruto was not expecting that and his face showed it. He had been expecting something along the lines of something like a giant flaming ball of fire that he had seen Sasu- Asuma do. "I'm sorry what…"

"The Shadow clone jutsu, it's a more advanced version of the clone jutsu-"

"Yeah, I get that but what makes you think I'll be able to do that –advanced version, when I can't even do the damn _easy_ version of that jutsu."

"Well, it's not really more advanced I mean, it's the exact same function, just this is bigger." Hoping Naruto would be able to follow his train thought, Asuma intended to demonstrate but Naruto's constant badgering of question kept stopping him from doing so, "And you know, the bigger a jutsu is the more…"

"Chakra is involved… Oh I get it! I just don't know why this is such a big jutsu... It's a damn clone."

Asuma pinched the bridge of his nose again, "Just, shut up and listen to me. The clone jutsu and this one I'm going to teach you are almost the same, but have _large _differences, one uses a small amount of chakra, and one doesn't. One _you_ can't do, one you can do. Look, I'll just show you." Performing the hand seals required, a second Asuma appeared, "This is the clone jutsu," hearing a loud pop another Asuma appeared, this one appearing out of smoke, "This is the _Shadow_ clone jutsu, see how they're similar?" Getting a confirmation by way of a nod he continued. "This is the differences," swiping his hand through one of them and seeing as it slowly dissipated till it was completely gone. "That one disappears whereas," slapping the other clone in the face, watching it take the hit, "this one doesn't. One is an illusion, one isn't, get it?"

"I do… But I still don't know how you expect me to learn that." Naruto said, having taken a seat on the floor again, "It's real simple, all you have to do is focus some chakra and boom you got yourself a clone." Asuma said by effortlessly summoning another clone, "but it can be extremely draining on people who don't have a lot of chakra like myself, and a kid around your age would normally just drop dead if they didn't have enough chakra. But luckily, you have like ten times the amount of chakra a kid your age should have, so it's good for you. The amount of chakra you have was also stopping you from doing the original clone jutsu, a technique you need to pass your exam."

"I don't like the odds; you know you just said I could die from this…"

"I said kids your age would die if they didn't have enough chakra… You have more chakra than I do."

"I still wish it was a big ass fire jutsu."

OoO

(Three months later – Hokage Tower)

Naruto didn't know why he was here, mainly because of how vague the ANBU operative had been, he wasn't even given an explanation just 'Please make your way to the Hokage's office' then he just left, how sketchy was that? It wasn't as if he wasn't use to the ANBU being direct, no he was entirely use to that, it more so the fact that his final exam was less than a few days away and this visit was giving him weird vibes.

But it couldn't all be bad right? He could be going to meet the old man about being graduated early because of how good he was, but if he was graduating early that would mean Sasuke would also… He did finish second behind the Uchiha. As much as he despised the brooding punk, Naruto had to give him credit… He was pretty good, not as good as him mind you; he only placed second because Sasuke is considered a 'prodigy' which earned him extra points, which also translated into Naruto's mind as bullshit, so technically Naruto was better.

He reached the desk where the assistant was seated, writing whatever a Hokage's assistant wrote onto a piece of paper. Waving his bandaged hand in front of the woman's face, he didn't get an immediate response, whatever she was writing had to be pretty important for her to not notice that he was there, she usually noticed the moment he walked in. "Hey," Naruto said, trying to draw her out of her writing daze. Blinking multiple times, the woman looked to the blonde boy standing in front of her. "Oh! Naruto-sama, I'm sorry, I didn't see you. Are you here for Hokage-sama?"

Nodding his head, the woman told him to just go on through to the office before re-indulging into her writing. Walking toward the steps to the office he couldn't help but notice the more than average amount of people walking to and from rooms and up and down the stairs. It wasn't necessarily strange to see people being busy, just that the amount of people walking to and from places or rooms, some people even pacing, was strange. Reaching the top of the stairs, he was instantly met with a line of clan heads, most he had seen before, some he hadn't. They were all seated on the chairs that lined the wall outside the large doors to the office, they all seemed to stare him down, watching his every move as he walked past them to the door, to which he opened slowly, not willing to agitate these impatient clan heads.

"Hey, Jii-chan, what's with all the people…?"

"Ah, Naruto you're here, take a seat."

Looking around the room, Naruto noticed the tired look of the Hokage as well as Asuma sitting in the other chair. Sitting in the chair next to Asuma he gave a nod his way as a way of saying hello, "All those people are there to try and 'persuade' me into making their children pass the exam, they're all annoyed because I've made them wait." Hiruzen chuckled heartily before continuing on with what he had brought them there for. "Right, now that both of you are here, I can explain the reason as to why you're here. Asuma has no real reason to be here as he already knows what I'm going to tell you Naruto," adjusting himself, Naruto sat up straighter. "But he wishes to be here to deliver the news. Naruto, your training has proved eventful and Asuma has delivered the results I had asked of him almost two years ago, but now you two will no longer training together."

The news caught Naruto slightly off guard as he wasn't really expecting that, "what? But I still need to get better at something's; you can't stop my training now." Naruto said, eyebrows knitting together in frustration. "Asuma, you have to agree, we're still not done training." Asuma smiled at the Jinchuriki of the nine tails, placing his hand atop the boys head, "I only agreed to train you for a certain amount of time kid, besides you're graduating soon, you'll get another Jounin sensei."

"But…" Naruto started, wiping away the moisture that was gathering in the corner of his eyes, he wouldn't cry in front of his uncle and grandfather, "I don't want another sensei…"

Asuma's eyes widened in shock before he smiled, "don't worry too much kid, I know your next sensei, and he'll be good trust me, and we're still family, it's not like I'm dying. I'll still be around for you to ask me anything."

Still family… The words resounded in Naruto's mind, he certainly did think of Asuma as something reminiscent of family if the way he was tearing up was anything to go by. "Right… still family huh? I guess you are my uncle…"

Hiruzen smiled at the boy, then looking to Asuma, he saw the genuine surprise and happiness that was written all over his face, he knew the two would become close again, and it was the main reason he had paired the two up to begin with, he could of just had any other person train Naruto, but he waited for Asuma to return, it was the best way for both of them to feel any sense of happiness again.

Smiling himself, Naruto clicked his tongue, "who said I needed your help anyway. I'll get better myself and become stronger than both of you, and then I'm coming take that hat off you Jii-chan!"

OoO

(A few days later – Academy classroom)

Naruto sat there in the back row of desks, head down and sleeping, waiting for his name to be called. He had trained the whole night before, getting in whatever training he needed to pass the exam, he had just slept through the written part of the exam and was now waiting to be called to take the test for ninjutsu, which he knew he would pass, there was no doubt in his mind that he wouldn't.

Shikamaru and Choji were seated next to him, one eating his regular packet of BBQ chips, the other laying back against the chair, looking up at the ceiling. Choji had already finished his exam and was told he had passed, he also told them that it was easy and there was no real need to worry as they already knew the techniques they were going to ask of both Shikamaru and Naruto. Although he did point out that the only challenge that there would be was for the instructors to get Shikamaru to do something he already knew he could do, to which Shikamaru himself had agreed.

Though it seemed Naruto was asleep, he wasn't really, more just resting his eyes, even if he wanted to sleep he wouldn't be able to with Choji not knowing how to chew with his mouth closed meaning Naruto could hear every crunch of each chip Choji decided to eat.

"Sasuke Uchiha!"

Opening his eyes slightly to peek out from his folded arms, Naruto looked to the Uchiha who walked toward the instructors with an edge about him. Something about him made girls like Sakura and Ino go crazy, even girls who were at least two or three years their senior seemed to have an infatuation with the antisocial Uchiha. The death of his entire family and clan seemed to have had a backwards effect on the Uchiha as instead of losing his mind and crying every so often, he just seemed to hate everyone around him and, for some reason he had a little spot in his little ball of hated saved just for him. Obviously Naruto being Naruto, didn't take his hate at face value but instead threw the hate right back. Naruto had no real reason to hate Sasuke, and Sasuke had no real reason to hate him, it just ended up that way and they just ran with it, having a real intense rivalry as a way to show their apparent 'hate' one another.

"I don't know what that guy has that makes him so 'amazing' to women… How troublesome."

"Well, he's dark; his hair is long and frames his face…" Choji said, finger on his chin.

"Are you gay? How the hell do you know that…" Shikamaru said, eyebrow raised in question, at this point Naruto raised his head from the table, stretching his arms over his head, "No he's not gay, it's what girls say about him, right Choji?"

"Yeah exactly." Choji said, before placing hand back into his bag of chips, only to realize how empty his packet of chips was, "Naruto, do you think you could…"

"Yeah, yeah…" In a puff of smoke, a clone of Naruto appeared, holding his hand out for Choji to place the money in, "Want anything Shika?" The clone asked, holding his out for the lazy Nara.

"Nah I'm good." Shikamaru said, watching as the clone then walked out of the room to go buy Choji another bag of chips. "I'm still can't get over the fact that it's actually real and not illusions like ours… When are you going to teach that to me and Choji… Could come in handy."

"The old man banned me from teaching to anyone else until I knew they could handle it."

"So what makes you so special that only you were allowed to learn it?"

"Said something about me having ten times the amount of chakra you guys have, which makes it safe for me to use, and besides I couldn't do the regular Bunshin so it was do or die with this technique." Naruto explained, throwing his hands behind his head, watching as Sasuke walked back into the room, before another students name was called.

"This is taking way too damn long…" Shikamaru said laying head down onto his arms, "Is there anything else that we should know Choji? About this exam I mean?"

"Well, nothing really, unless you can't do the main three techniques then I guess you can just leave… Oh yeah, you can do extra jutsu to add extra points onto your score if you want but that's about it, they just tell you if you pass or not."

The instructor walked back into the classroom as well as the student that had walked out before, looking downcast as opposed to how happy he was when he first walked into the exam room.

"Naruto Uzumaki Sarutobi!"

Standing from his seated position, Naruto made his way down to the instructor, "Guess its show time boys!"

OoO

(An hour later in the same classroom)

Having all gotten the 'you pass' from Iruka, they were told to go back into the classroom to await the team announcements, as they waited for the other students to finish their own exams they sat in the exact same spot up the back of the classroom, but the difference being that all three were eating food from which they had gotten after summoning another Naruto clone.

Munching down on their respective foods to which made the other students in the classroom drool just by the smell coming off of the food, even Sasuke who had been the most admirable in trying to avoid the alluring smell of barbecue roast pork and beef ramen had slowly fallen after wiping a small drop of drool coming from the corner of his mouth and a soft rumbling that came from his stomach.

"Oi Naruto! Where the hell is my food?" Ino yelled storming over to the table which the three were seated.

"You didn't ask," Naruto said between mouthfuls of his ramen.

"You've known me since we were kids and you want me to ask!"

Placing his bowl of noodles down, "What does it matter? I thought you and Sakura were on a diet to 'look better' anyway."

"Today is an exception!"

"Then why isn't Sakura complaining?" Shikamaru said, throwing in his two cents.

"Because she doesn't have a stomach."

"Oi! I do too have a stomach; I just rather not look like a pig, like you Ino!"

"Here we go…" Naruto said, shaking his head watching the blonde and pink haired girls argue about who was a pig and who wasn't for what had to be the hundredth time this week.

Hearing the door slide open, Naruto, Choji and Shikamaru quickly packed the rest of the pork into the empty ramen bowl before hiding it under the table. Quickly straightening themselves, Iruka walked into the room, to see Ino and Sakura arguing, "You two! In your seats!" He yelled at the two, "Alright, now that the exam is over, I'd like anyone who didn't pass to remain in their seats while those who did, stand." Looking around the room as to who had passed the exam, Naruto noted that almost everyone he knew had passed.

"Ok, so first off, because team one to six and also team nine are still in operation from last year, we will skip right to team seven, when your name is called out, please retake your seat. Alright, so, the team that will be a part of team seven is, Sasuke Uchiha," Naruto chuckled at whatever poor sap would have to be stuck with him, "Naruto Uzumaki Sarutobi," Son of a bitch, looking over to Sasuke, he saw that he was looking at him also, glaring was a more suitable choice of word it seemed. Sitting down in his seat, he glared right back. "And Sakura Haruno."

Well at least he knew Sakura…

"Sucks to be you Naruto." Shikamaru said from his standing position, "Yeah, that's got to suck." Choji also said.

"Shut up…"

"You three are to be back here tomorrow to meet your Jounin sensei."

OoO

(The next day – The academy classroom)

To Naruto it seemed that everyone else besides him, Sakura and Sasuke, had pulled the long straws where as they pulled the short ones and, were as it seemed, left with a rather disappointing teacher, as they had been waiting there for over an hour and a half. Everyone else's senseis had just showed up as soon as the teams were told to they could meet their sensei. Asuma had shown up instantly for Shikamaru, Choji and Ino's team, which Naruto had wished he had been a part of so they could hurry up and start being ninja, for kami's sake he just wanted to kick some ass!

Asuma had told him that this guy that was teaching them was supposed to be good and 'possibly even better than me'… Man he wasn't really living up to those standards that Asuma placed on him, wasn't this Kakashi guy told to go to the academy at a certain time, not be over an hour late? It just seemed impossible that someone who was considered 'elite' among his peers was _this _late.

Fiddling with the goggles that he had moved down from his forehead to around his neck in order to tie his headband there, he had always wanted a headband ever since he had seen his dad wear one, he used to think they made you look 'awesome', and had always asked his dad, Asuma and even Iruka if he could wear their ones, but was turned down every time being told that he had to become a Shinobi of Konohagakure to be able to wear the headband, and at the time, being a 'Shinobi of Konohagakure' sounded like the greatest thing in the entirety of the Elemental nations, then his dad just got him goggles to compensate for not being able to wear a headband, and now that he has a headband of his own, all this hype he had built around it seemed so pointless, mind you he loves wearing it, and will never take it off as it represents his home, but it just seemed like he made a big deal out of it for no real reason.

Looking out the corner of his eye, Naruto caught the sight of Sasuke's head slowly dipping down, his eyes following suit, he didn't seem to realize he was passing out till his head hit the table with a hard 'thunk' and he jolted back up again. That had been the most action Naruto had seen today, and he would have laughed had he not been in such a state of boredom. He heard a chuckle come from behind him, looking as Sakura continued to giggle at the bashful Uchiha.

"Did that hurt Sasuke-kun?" Naruto said, mocking Sasuke, a voice he had taken of Ino and Sakura whenever they thought the Uchiha had been hurt, "Are you okay Sasuke-kun?" Naruto continued.

"Shut up monkey," Sasuke insulted.

Taking offence to the fact that Sasuke had used his family name to insult him, "Oi, who's the one named after _my _great-grandfather?"

"At least I wasn't named after a ramen topping."

"Well… Shut up." Naruto said crossing his arms and looking away toward the door to which their sensei would come through. Sakura kept on giggling, now at the face Naruto was pulling in his annoyed state.

"What are you laughing at Sakura?" Both Naruto and Sasuke said in the same moment before looking at each other and glaring, "I asked her first!" They both said again, from giggling it turned into full blown laughter, "You two are great!"

Looking away from each other they both said.

"I'm ten times greater than him."

"He's nowhere near my level."

"Care to prove that Uchiha!"

"With pleasure Saru-tobi." Sasuke said dragging out Naruto's last name.

"My first impression is that I don't like you guys… At all." A voice intruded into the conversation.

Stopping her laughing and both Naruto and Sasuke letting go each other's collars, looking toward the front of the room, to which stood a man with spiky silver hair, a mask covering the majority of his face and his headband having been pulled down over his left eye, his right eye exposed.

The first thing that popped into Naruto's mind was 'Future-Shikamaru' as shown by the man relaxed body shape and the way his voice sounded was almost as if he felt he never should have been there in the first place. Naruto had been to Shikamaru's place on more than one occasion and had seen his father more than once and did notice the similarities which were almost uncanny, but this man in front of him just screamed 'Shikamaru'.

"You guys are team seven right?"

All three of the kids nodded their heads, to which the man smiled and grabbed a small orange book out of the back of his pocket to which he began reading, completely disregarding the kids in the room, "Meet me on the roof in five minutes." Disappearing into a swirl of leaves, Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura stared at the spot in which the man had once inhabited before realising how much time they were wasting trying to formulate a coherent thought process as to who that man was and began rushing out the door to reach the rooftop.

"Bet I can reach the roof before you do duckbutt?" Naruto yelled to the Uchiha who was sprinting next to him.

"There's no way I'd lose such a mundane bet… Let's go."

* * *

Yay, finish. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, which I did try to upload quicker than before and I did increase the amount I wrote to hopefully appease you people who like to read longer and more detailed chapters.

Also if you didn't notice, I did change up the way I was writing, I put a lot more detail into the different sections of the story as I felt the last two chapters didn't quite cut it.

I don't feel satisfied with this chapter, I'm not sure why…

(Btw) School is on the way back, and Football (Soccer) is starting back up again.

You guys know the go! Grimmaced – Signing out.


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